HTLF Bank Purchases New Shares in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

HTLF Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 6,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alliant Energy by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,692,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021,148 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Alliant Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,504,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,114,000 after purchasing an additional 799,601 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Alliant Energy by 289.7% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 976,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,302,000 after purchasing an additional 725,800 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 3,199.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 728,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,283,000 after buying an additional 706,162 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Alliant Energy by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,505,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,351,000 after buying an additional 696,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LNT opened at $49.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.71 and its 200-day moving average is $49.47. Alliant Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $45.15 and a 1 year high of $56.26. The company has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.07). Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 10.85% and a net margin of 17.46%. The firm had revenue of $961.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliant Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LNT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Alliant Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Alliant Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Alliant Energy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alliant Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.21.

Insider Activity at Alliant Energy

In other news, CEO Lisa M. Barton purchased 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.56 per share, with a total value of $53,416.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,769,720.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alliant Energy Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.